Douglas Kennedy, right, at village court in Mount Kisco, N.Y. Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy, was acquitted of child endangerment and harassment charges. / Xavier MascareOas, AP

by Shawn Cohen, The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News

by Shawn Cohen, The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News

MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. - Douglas Kennedy was acquitted Tuesday of charges that he endangered his newborn son and harassed nurses who tried to stop him from taking the boy outside Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco.

"It is abundantly apparent that the nurses understood it was not the intent of defendant to leave the hospital with the child and not return," Town Justice John Donohue wrote in his decision, which followed a five-day nonjury trial. "It was clear that the defendant was going outside the hospital on an unseasonably warm winter evening for a short period and then returning with the child."

Kennedy, 45, a Chappaqua resident and the second-youngest son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, faced a misdemeanor charge of endangerment of a child and two counts of physical harassment against the nurses, stemming from a Jan. 7 incident at the maternity ward.

Kennedy's lawyer, Robert Gottlieb, said after the decision, "We've spoken to Douglas and (his wife) Molly, and they are thrilled that this nightmare has finally come to an end. They are thrilled with the judge's verdict. They now want to move on with their lives, enjoy their family and have a great Thanksgiving."

Gottlieb said the entire case was built on lies told by the two nurses, Anna Margaret Lane and Cari Luciano, who he said were motivated by money. A lawyer for the nurses, Elliot Taub, has said he is considering a civil lawsuit against Kennedy.

"The attorney for the nurses can do whatever the heck he wants to do," Gottlieb said, but encouraged the lawyer to read the judge's ruling exonerating Kennedy. "There's little chance that these nurses now will ever see a dime in the case."

Gottlieb also blasted the Westchester District Attorney's Office for pursuing criminal charges, saying this amounted to an abuse of the justice system.

Lucian Chalfen, spokesman for the District Attorney's Office, would not comment.

The incident began when Kennedy, a Fox News reporter, told nurses that he wanted to take his then-2-day-old son, Bo, out to see the moon and to get some fresh air.

Nurses told him that he couldn't, but prosecutors say Kennedy insisted on going anyway and ended up kicking one nurse, Luciano, as she reached for the baby.

The other nurse, Lane, claimed Kennedy twisted her arm.

The confrontation was captured on surveillance tape.

Taub released the tape publicly, but the judge cited the video in clearing Kennedy, Gottlieb noted.

The two nurses said they were just doing their job when they tried to stop Kennedy, but the judge disputed their version of events.

"The testimony of the nurse Anna Margaret Lane that the defendant twisted her arm to turn the knob to open the door is not supported by any evidence except her own testimony," Donohue wrote in his decision.

"Nurse Luciano alleges that the defendant deliberately kicked her and caused her to fall," the judge continued. "The defense has argued that the contact between the defendant and nurse Luciano was a spontaneous response by the defendant to prevent nurse Luciano from removing the baby from his arms while he was proceeding backwards through the door. The court finds such explanation consistent with the defendant's demeanor throughout the period of this incident.

"It has been held that where conduct is clearly spontaneous in nature and not thought out in advance, the intent on the part of a defendant to annoy or alarm the victim is not present," Donohue concluded. "Accordingly, the court finds the defendant not guilty."

The hospital confrontation resulted in a series of alarms, including a code pink, which is used to signal a baby's abduction. In his closing argument, Gottlieb called the alarm "preposterous."

He said the nurses overreacted to Kennedy's request and when they realized the hospital would investigate, they decided to "get their stories straight and pressure the District Attorney's Office to bring charges."

He said they had been told that any lawsuit for damages would have a better chance if a criminal conviction came first.

"It's an embarrassment that two nurses would so blatantly lie," Gottlieb said.

Assistant District Attorney Amy Puerto has said that the fact that Bo was uninjured was a "miracle." She said Kennedy "resorted to violence instead of simply complying with a request."

A state investigation, including a visit to the Kennedy home, found no evidence of child abuse.

Taub, the nurses' lawyer, did not immediately respond to a call for comment Tuesday.

Kennedy is the 10th of 11 children of Robert and Ethel Kennedy. His father was assassinated in 1968.

Douglas Kennedy's sister-in-law, Mary Kennedy, hanged herself in May in Bedford. His sister, Kerry Kennedy, pleaded not guilty to drug-impaired driving after an accident on Interstate 684.